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List of vacuum tubes

This is a list of vacuum tubes or thermionic valves, and low-pressure gas-filled tubes, or discharge tubes. Before the advent of semiconductor devices, thousands of tube types were used in consumer electronics. Many industrial, military or otherwise professional tubes were also produced. Only a few types are still used today, mainly in high-power, high-frequency applications.

Vintage General Electric 6CS7 vacuum tube marked 'Tassa Radiofonica'

Heater or filament ratings

Receiving tubes have heaters or filaments intended for direct battery operation, parallel operation off a dedicated winding on a supply transformer, or series string operation on transformer-less sets. High-power RF power tubes are directly heated; the heater voltage must be much smaller than the signal voltage on the grid and is therefore in the 5...25 V range, drawing up to hundreds of amperes from a suitable heater transformer. In some valve part number series, the voltage class of the heater is given in the part number, and a similar valve might be available with several different heater voltage ratings.

Tube bases and envelopes

Abbreviations used in this list

Numbering systems

North American systems

RETMA receiving tubes system

RETMA is the acronym for the Radio Electronic Television Manufacturers Association formed in 1953 - however the standard itself had already been in use since 1933, when RCA/Cunningham introduced the 1A6, 2A3, 2A5, etc.

  • A, B, C – Improved backward compatible versions
  • E – Export version
  • G – Glass bulb, ST-12 to ST-16 size
  • GT – Glass bulb, T-9 size
  • GT/G – Glass bulb, T-9 size interchangeable with G and GT types
  • L – Loctal
  • LM – Loctal-metal
  • LT – Locking base
  • M – Metal envelope
  • MG – Metal-glass
  • ML – Metal-Loctal
  • S – Spray shielded
  • W – Ruggedised, or military grade
  • WA, WB – Improved, backward compatible military/industrial variants
  • X – Low loss ceramic base for RF use
  • Y – Low loss mica-filled phenolic resin ("Micanol") base for RF use

Often designations that differed only in their initial numerals would be identical except for heater characteristics.

For examples see below

RMA professional tubes system

The system was used in 1942–44 and assigned numbers with the base form "1A21", and is therefore also referred to as the "1A21 system".[1]The first numeric character indicated the filament/heater power rating, the second alphabetic character was a code for the function, and the last 2 digits were sequentially assigned, beginning with 21

For examples see below.

EIA professional tubes system

A four-digit system was maintained by JETEC since 1944, then by EIA since 1957 for special industrial, military and professional vacuum and gas-filled tubes, and all sorts of other devices requiring to be sealed off against the external atmosphere.

Some manufacturers preceded the EIA number with a manufacturer's code:

For examples see below.

Eimac transmitting tubes system

Eitel/McCullough and other manufacturers of high power RF tubes use the following code since 1945:[2]

  • 2 – Diode
  • 3 – Triode
  • 4 – Tetrode
  • 5 – Pentode
  • R or a dash ("-") – Glass envelope, radiation cooling
  • C – Ceramic envelope
  • K – (Reflex-)Klystron
  • P – Primarily for pulse applications
  • L – External anode, liquid convection cooling
  • N – External anode, natural convection air cooling
  • S – External anode, conduction cooling
  • V – Vapor cooled (anode is immersed in boiling water, and the steam is collected, condensed and recycled)
  • W – Water cooled (water is pumped through an outer metal jacket thermically connected to the anode)
  • X – Forced-air cooled (air is blown through cooling fins thermally connected to the anode)
  • 1 – ≤10
  • 2 – 11...20
  • 3 – 21...30
  • 4 – 31...50
  • 5 – 51...100
  • 6 – 101...200
  • 7 – 201...500
  • 8 – 501...1000

Examples:

West European systems

Mullard–Philips system

This system is very descriptive of what type of device (triode, diode, pentode etc.) it is applied to, as well as the heater/filament type and the base type (octal, noval, etc.).[1][3] Adhering manufacturers include AEG (de), Amperex (us), CdL (1921, French Mazda brand), CIFTE (fr, Mazda-Belvu brand), EdiSwan (uk, British Mazda brand), Radiotechnique (fr, Coprim, Miniwatt-Dario and RTC brands), Lorenz (de), MBLE(fr, nl) (be, Adzam brand), Mullard (uk), Philips (nl, Miniwatt brand), RCA (us), RFT(de, sv) (de), Siemens (de), Telefunken (de), Tesla (cz), Toshiba (ja), Tungsram (hu), Unitra (pl, Dolam, Polam and Telam brands) and Valvo(de, it) (de).

Standard tubes

This part dates back to the joint valve code key (German: Röhren-Gemeinschaftsschlüssel) negotiated between Philips and Telefunken in 1933–34. Like the North American system the first symbol describes the heater voltage, in this case, a Roman letter rather than a number. Further Roman letters, up to three, describe the device followed by one to four numerals assigned in a semi-chronological order of type development within number ranges assigned to different base types.

If two devices share the same type designation other than the first letter (e.g. ECL82, PCL82, UCL82) they will usually be identical except for heater specifications; however there are exceptions, particularly with output types (for example, both the PL84 and UL84 differ significantly from the EL84 in certain major characteristics, although they have the same pinout and similar power rating). However, device numbers do not reveal any similarity between different type families; e.g. the triode section of an ECL82 is not related to either triode of an ECC82, whereas the triode section of an ECL86 does happen to be similar to those of an ECC83.

Pro Electron maintained a subset of the M-P system after their establishment in 1966, with only the first letters E, P for the heater, only the second letters A, B, C, D, E, F, H, K, L, M, Y, Z for the type, and issuing only three-digit numbers starting with 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 for the base.[4]

Notes: Tungsram preceded the M-P designation with the letter T, as in TAD1 for AD1; VATEA Rádiótechnikai és Villamossági Rt.-t. (VATEA Radio Technology and Electric Co. Ltd., Budapest, Hungary) preceded the M-P designation with the letter V, as in VEL5 for EL5.

Heater ratings for series-string, AC/DC tubes are given in milliamperes; heater ratings for parallel-string tubes are given in volts
  • A – 4 V heater for 2-cell lead-acid batteries and for AC mains transformers
  • B – 180 mA DC series heater
  • C – 200 mA AC/DC series heater
  • D – 1.4 V DC filament for Leclanché cells, later low-voltage/low power filament/heater:
  • 0.625 V DC directly heated for NiCd battery, series-heated two-tube designs such as hearing aids. If either filament breaks, further draining of all batteries stops[5]
  • Wide range 0.9 V to 1.55 V DC directly heated for dry cells
  • 1.25 V DC directly heated for NiCd batteries
  • 1.25 V or 1.4 V AC from a separate heater winding on CRT horizontal-output transformers, in half-indirectly heated EHT rectifiers
  • E – 6.3 V parallel heater; for 3-cell lead-acid vehicle crank batteries (mobile equipment) and for AC mains or horizontal-output transformers
  • F – 12.6 V DC parallel heater for 6-cell lead-acid vehicle crank batteries
  • G – Various heaters between 2.5 and 5.0 V AC (except 4 V) from a separate heater winding on a mains or horizontal-output transformer for the anode voltage rectifier
  • H – 150 mA AC/DC series heater
  • Until at least 1938: 4 V battery (as opposed to A for "4 V AC"; no known examples assigned)[6]: 2 
  • I – 20 V heater
  • K – 2.0 V filament for 1-cell lead-acid batteries, later for AC transformers
  • L – 450 mA AC/DC series heater; was shifted here from Y
  • M – 1.9 V, directly heated
  • N – 12.6 V, indirectly heated
  • O – Cold cathode
  • by 1955 this also included semiconductors as these had no heater
  • Philips sold a family of 150mA series heater tubes under this letter in South America[7]
  • P – 300 mA AC/DC series heater
  • Q – 2.4 V, indirectly heated
  • R – Not assigned to avoid any confusion with the older Telefunken "R" system
  • S – 1.9 V, indirectly heated
  • T – Custom heater
  • U – 100 mA AC/DC series heater
  • V – 50 mA AC/DC series heater
  • X – 600 mA AC/DC series heater
  • Y – 450 mA AC/DC series heater, shifted to L to avoid conflicts with the professional tubes system
  • Z – Cold cathode tube; was shifted here from O after the advent of semiconductors
For signal pentodes, an odd model number most often identified a variable-mu (remote-cutoff) tube, whereas an even number identified a 'high slope' (sharp-cutoff) tube
For power pentodes and triode-pentode combinations, even numbers usually indicate linear (audio power amplifier) devices while odd numbers were more suited to video signals or situations where more distortion could be tolerated.
  • 1–9 – Pinch-type construction tubes, mostly P8A side-contact 8-pin bases (P base) or V5A side-contact 5-pin (V base) and various other European pre-octal designs
  • 10–19 – Y8A 8-pin steel tube base, aka "German metal octal"
  • 20–29 – Loctal B8G; some octal; some 8-way side contact (exceptions are DAC21, DBC21, DCH21, DF21, DF22, DL21, DLL21, DM21 which have octal bases)
  • 30–39 – International Octal (IEC 67-I-5a), also known as IO or K8A
  • 40–49 – Rimlok (Rimlock) B8A All-glass miniature tubes
  • 41w – Battery-heated bowl tube[8] (German: Pressnapfröhre)
  • 50–59 – "Special construction types fitted with bases applicable to design features used";[9] mostly locking bases: "9-pin Loctal" (B9G) or 8-pin Loctal (B8G); but also used for Octal and others (3-pin glass; Disk-seal incl. Lighthouse tubes; German 10-pin with spigot; min. 4-pin; B26A; Magnoval B9D)
  • 60–69 – Pencil tubes – sub-miniature all-glass tubes, wire-ended (inline fly-leads in place of pins)
—Before the 1950s:
  • 60–64 – All-glass tubes fitted with 9-pin Loctal (B9G) bases
  • 70–79 – Pencil tubes with circular pins or fly-leads
—Before the 1950s:
  • 70–79 – 8-pin Loctal (Lorenz)
  • 80–89 – Noval B9A (9-pin; IEC 67-I-12a)
  • 90–99 – "Button" B7G (miniature 7-pin; IEC 67-I-10a)
  • 100–109 – B7G; Wehrmacht base; German PTT base
  • 110–119 – Y8A 8-pin steel tube base; Rimlock B8A
  • 130–139 – Octal
  • 150–159 – German 10-pin with spigot; 10-pin glass with one big pin; Octal
  • 160–169 – Inline wire-ended Pencil tubes; Y8A 8-pin steel tube base
  • 170–179 – RFT 8-pin; RFT 11-pin all-glass gnome tube with one offset pin
  • 180–189 – Noval B9A
  • 190–199 – Miniature 7-pin B7G
  • 200–209 – Decal B10B
  • 230–239 – Octal
  • 270–279 – RFT 11-pin all glass with one offset pin
  • 280–289 – Noval B9A
  • 300–399 – Octal
  • 400–499 – Rimlock B8A
  • 500–529 – Magnoval B9D
  • 600–699 – Inline wire-ended Pencil tubes
  • 700–799 – Circular wire-ended Pencil tubes
  • 800–899 – Noval B9A
  • 900–999 – Miniature 7-pin B7G

—Special quality:

  • 1000– Round wire-ended; special Nuvistor base
  • 2000– Decal B10B
  • 3000– Octal
  • 5000– Magnoval B9D
  • 8000– Noval B9A

For examples see below

Special quality tubes

Vacuum tubes which had special qualities of some sort, very often long-life designs, particularly for computer and telecommunications use, had the numeric part of the designation placed immediately after the first letter. They were usually special-quality versions of standard types. Thus the E82CC was a long-life version of the ECC82 intended for computer and general signal use, and the E88CC a high quality version of the ECC88/6DJ8. While the E80F pentode was a high quality development of the EF80, they were not pin-compatible and could not be interchanged without rewiring the socket (the E80F is commonly sought after as a high quality replacement for the similar EF86 type in guitar amplifiers). The letters "CC" indicated the two triodes and the "F", the single pentode inside these types.

A few special-quality tubes did not have a standard equivalent, e.g. the E55L, a broadband power pentode used as the output stage of oscilloscope amplifiers and the E90CC, a dual triode with a common cathode connection and seven pin base for use in cathode-coupled Flip-flops in early computers. The E91H is a special heptode with a passivated third grid designed to reduce secondary emission; this device was used as a "gate", allowing or blocking pulses applied to the first, (control) grid by changing the voltage on the third grid, in early computer circuits (similar in function to the U.S. 6AS6).

Many of these types had gold-plated base pins and special heater configurations inside the nickel cathode tube designed to reduce hum pickup from the A.C. heater supply, and also had improved oxide insulation between the heater and cathode so the cathode could be elevated to a greater voltage above the heater supply. (Note that elevating the cathode voltage above the average heater voltage, which in well-designed equipment was supplied from a transformer with an earthed center-tapped secondary, was less detrimental to the oxide insulation between heater and cathode than lowering the cathode voltage below the heater voltage, helping to prevent pyrometallurgical electrolytic chemical reactions where the oxide touched the nickel cathode that could form conductive aluminium tungstate and which could ultimately develop into a heater-cathode short circuit.)

Better, often dual, getters were implemented to maintain a better vacuum, and more-rigid electrode supports introduced to reduce microphonics and improve vibration and shock resistance. The mica spacers used in "SQ" and "PQ" types did not possess sharp protrusions which could flake off and become loose inside the bulb, possibly lodging between the grids and thus changing the characteristics of the device. Some types, particularly the E80F, E88CC and E90CC, had a constricted section of bulb to firmly hold specially shaped flakeless mica spacers.[10]

For examples see below, starting at DC

Later special-quality tubes had not base and function swapped but were assigned a 4-digit number,[3] such as ECC2000 or ED8000, the first digit of which again denoting the base:

For examples see below, starting at EC

"Z" Cold-cathode SQ tubes had a different function letter scheme:[11]

  • Trigger tetrode, one starter electrode and a primer (keep-alive) electrode for ion availability to keep the ignition voltage constant, for analog RC timers, voltage triggers, etc.
  • Relay tetrode, two starter electrodes to make counters bidirectional or resettable

For examples, see below under Z

Professional tubes

In use since at least 1961, this system was maintained by Pro Electron after their establishment in 1966.[4]

Both letters together indicate the type:

Then follows a 4-digit sequentially assigned number.

Optional suffixes for camera tubes:

Version letter:

Letter for variants derived by selection:

For examples see below

Transmitting tubes

The first letter (or letter pair, in the case of a dual-system device) indicates the general type:

The following letter indicates the filament or cathode type, or the fill gas or other construction detail. The coding for vacuum devices differs between Philips (and other Continental European manufacturers) on the one hand and its Mullard subsidiary on the other.

Philips vacuum devices:
  • A
  • Microwave tubes: Output power <1W
  • Other tubes: Directly heated tungsten filament
  • B
  • Microwave tubes: Output power ≥1W
  • Other tubes: Directly heated thoriated tungsten filament
  • C – Directly heated oxide-coated filament
  • D – Disk-seal construction
  • E – Indirectly heated oxide-coated cathode
Mullard vacuum devices:
  • G – Directly heated oxide-coated filament (only mercury-vapor rectifiers)
  • N – External magnet required (magnetrons)
  • P – Packaged construction (magnetrons)
  • S – Reflex klystron
  • T – Multiple resonator (klystrons)
  • V – Indirectly heated oxide-coated cathode
  • X – Directly heated tungsten filament
  • Y – Directly heated thoriated tungsten filament
  • Z – Directly heated oxide-coated filament (except mercury-vapor rectifiers)
Gas-filled devices:
  • G – Mercury-vapor filling
  • H – Hydrogen filling
  • R – Rare-gas filling
  • X – Xenon filling

The next letter indicates the cooling method or other significant characteristic:

The following group of digits indicate:

The following group of digits indicate the power:

  • 2nd letter: A – in mW
  • 2nd letter: B – in W
  • Less than 3 digits: in mA
  • 3 or more digits:
  • 1st digit: =0 – in mA
  • 1st digit: >0 – in A

An optional following letter indicates the base or connection method:

For examples see below

Phototubes and photomultipliers

The first digit indicates the tube base:

The second digit is a sequentially assigned number.

The following letter indicates the photocathode type:

The following letter indicates the filling:

A following letter P indicates a photomultiplier.

Examples:

Voltage stabilizers

The first number indicates the burning voltage

The following letter indicates the current range:

The following digit is a sequentially assigned number.

An optional, following letter indicates the base:

Examples:

Compagnie des Lampes (1888, "Métal") system

The first (1888) incarnation of La Compagnie des Lampes produced the TM tube since 1915 and defined one of the first French systems;[1][14] not to be confused with Compagnie des Lampes (1921, "French Mazda", see below).

First letter: Heater or filament voltage

Second letter: Heater or filament current

Next number: Gain

Next number: Internal resistance in kΩ

Examples:

EdiSwan ("British Mazda") systems

Note: EdiSwan also used the Mullard–Philips scheme.

Signal tubes

First number: Heater or filament rating[1]

Following letter or letter sequence: Type

Final number: Sequentially assigned number

Power tubes

Letter(s): Type

Number: Sequentially assigned number

Examples:

Note: "AC/"-series receiver tubes are listed under other letter tubes - AC/

EEV system

This system consists of one or more letters followed by a sequentially assigned number[19]

Examples:

ETL computing tubes system

The British Ericsson Telephones Limited (ETL), of Beeston, Nottingham (not to be confused with the Swedish TelefonAB Ericsson), original holder of the now-generic trademark Dekatron, used the following system:

  • G – Noble gas-filled
  • V – Vacuum
  • C – Common-cathode Counter Dekatron that makes only carry/borrow cathodes separately available for cascading
  • D – Diode, voltage reference, etc.
  • R – Register (Readout) – Digital indicator
  • S – Trochotron or Separate-cathode Counter/Selector Dekatron that makes all cathodes available on individual pins for displaying, divide-by-n counter/timer/prescalers, etc.
  • TE – Trigger tetrode, one starter electrode and a keep-alive (primer) electrode for ion availability
  • TR – Trigger triode, one starter electrode only
  • Dekatrons: Stage count
  • Digital indicators: Display cathode count
  • Diodes, voltage references: Nominal voltage
  • Trigger tubes: Ignition voltage
  • A – Plastic base
  • B – Plastic base
  • C – Plastic base
  • D – Plastic base
  • E – Plastic base
  • G – 26-pin B26A base
  • H – 27-pin B27A base
  • M – B7G base
  • P – B7G base
  • Q – B7G base
  • W – Wire-ends
  • X – Wire-ends
  • Y – Wire-ends

Examples:

  • GC10/4B – 4 kHz Decade Computing Counter Dekatron with carry/borrow cathodes "0" and "9" and intermediate cathodes "3" and "5" wired to separate pins

Note: More Nixie tubes under standard - ZM and professional - ZM

Marconi-Osram system

The British GEC–Marconi–Osram designation from the 1920s uses one or two letter(s) followed by two numerals and sometimes by a second letter identifying different versions of a particular type.[1]

The letter(s) generally denote the type or use:

Note: A preceding letter M indicates a 4-volts AC indirectly heated tube
  • PT – Power pentode
  • PX – 3...25 W Power triode

The following numbers are sequentially assigned for each new device.

Examples:

Mullard designations before 1934

Older Mullard tubes were mostly designated PM, followed by a number containing the filament voltage.

Many later tubes were designated one to three semi-intuitive letters, followed by a number containing the heater voltage. This was phased out after 1934 when Mullard adopted the Mullard–Philips scheme.

Examples:[20]

Philips system before 1934

The system consisted of one letter followed by 3 or 4 digits. It was phased out after 1934 when Philips adopted the Mullard–Philips scheme.

1st letter: Heater current[22][1]

1 or 2 digit(s): Heater voltage

Last 2 digits: Type

  • second-last digit: sequentially assigned, starting at 4
  • last digit:
  • 1 – Tetrode with a space charge grid (the 2nd grid is the control grid)
  • 2 – Tetrode with a screen grid (the 1st grid is the control grid)
  • 3 – Power pentode
  • 4 – Binode, a diode/triode or diode/tetrode
  • 5 – Remote-cutoff RF tetrode
  • 6 – Signal pentode
  • 7 – Remote-cutoff RF pentode
  • 8 – Sharp-cutoff hexode frequency changer
  • 9 – Remote-cutoff hexode

Examples:[23]

  • B2044S = REN1826 – Indirectly heated diode/triode, 20 V, 180 mA DC series heater

STC/Brimar receiving tubes system

First number: Type[1]

Next letter: Heater rating

Number: Sequentially assigned number

Examples:

Valvo system before 1934

Valvo(de, it) was a major German electronic components manufacturer from 1924 to 1989; a Philips subsidiary since 1927, Valvo was one of the predecessors of NXP Semiconductors.

The system consisted of one or two letters followed by 3 or 4 digits. It was phased out after 1934 when Valvo adopted the Mullard–Philips scheme.

First letter(s): Type[24]

Number:

A following letter D indicates more than one grid, not counting a space charge grid

Examples:[23]

East European systems

Lamina transmitting tubes system

Polish Lamina(pl) transmitting tube designations consist of one or two letters, a group of digits and an optional letter and/or two digits preceded by a "/" sign.

The first letter indicates the tube type, two equal letters denoting a dual tube:

A group of digits represents the maximum anode power dissipation in kW

An optional letter specifies the cooling method:

The first of the two digits after the "/" sign means:

The second digit after the "/" is sequentially assigned.

Examples:

RFT transmitting tubes system

Rundfunk- und Fernmelde-Technik(de, sv) was the brand of a group of telecommunications manufacturers in the German Democratic Republic. The designation consists of a group of three letters and a group of three or four digits.

The first two letters determine the tube type:

The third letter specifies the cooling method:

The first digit (or the first two digits in double tubes) indicates the number of electrodes:

The last two digits are sequentially assigned.

Examples:

Note: RFT used the Mullard–Philips and RETMA schemes for their low-power tubes.

Tesla systems (Czechoslovakia)

Signal tubes

Besides the genuine Mullard–Philips system, Tesla also used an M-P/RETMA hybrid scheme:[1]

First number: Heater voltage, as in the RETMA system

Next letter(s): Type, subset of the Mullard–Philips system

Next digit: Base

Last digit: Sequentially assigned number

Examples:

Power tubes

First letter:

Next letter(s): Type, subset of the Mullard–Philips scheme

Next number: Anode dissipation in W (if radiation cooled) or kW (otherwise)

The next letter specifies the cooling method:

Examples:

Tungsram receiving tubes system before 1934

The Tungsram system was composed of a maximum of three letters and three or four digits.[25][24] It was phased out after 1934 when Tungsram adopted the Mullard–Philips scheme, frequently preceding it with the letter T, as in TAD1 for AD1.

Letter: System type:

Note: A preceding letter A indicates an indirectly heated tube

Number:

Examples:[23]

Russian systems

Vacuum tubes produced in the former Soviet Union and in present-day Russia are designated in Cyrillic. Some confusion has been created in transliterating these designations to Latin.

The first system was introduced in 1929. It consisted of one or two letters (designating system type and, optionally, type of cathode), a dash, then a sequentially assigned number with up to 3 digits.[24]

In 1937, the Soviet Union purchased a tube assembly line from RCA (who at the time had difficulties raising funds for their basic operations), including production licenses and initial staff training, and installed it on the Svetlana/Светлана plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. US-licensed tubes were produced since then under an adapted RETMA scheme.

Examples:[26]

GOST standard tubes system

In the 1950s a 5-element system (Russian: Государственный Стандарт "State standard" ГОСТ/GOST 5461–59, later 13393–76) was adopted in the (then) Soviet Union for designating receiver vacuum tubes.[27][28]

The first element is a number specifying filament voltage. The second element is a Cyrillic letter specifying the type of device. The third element is a sequentially assigned number that distinguishes between different devices of the same type. The fourth element denotes the type of envelope. An optional fifth element consists of a dash followed by one or more characters to designate special characteristics of the tube. This usually implies construction differences, not just selection from regular quality production.

Professional tubes system

There is another designation system for professional tubes such as transmitter ones.[29][24]

The first element designates function. The next elements varies in interpretation. For ignitrons, rectifiers, and thyratrons, there is a digit, then a dash, then the anode current in amperes, a slash, anode voltage in kV. A letter may be attached to designate water cooling (no letter designates a radiation cooled device). For transmitting tubes in this system, the second element starts with a dash, a sequentially assigned number, then an optional letter specifying cooling method. For phototubes and photomultipliers, the second element is a sequential number and then a letter code identifying vacuum or gas fill and the type of cathode.

Japanese systems

Older numbering system 1930s–40s

A letter: Structure and usage[30]

Then a letter: Base and outline

Then a dash, followed by a sequentially assigned number or the designation of the American original

Then an optional dash, followed by a letter: Version

Examples:[31]

JIS C 7001 system

JIS C 7001 was published in 1951 and modified in 1965 and 1970[30]

A number: Heater voltage range, as in the RETMA scheme

etc.

Then a letter: Base and Outline

Then a dash, followed by a letter: Structure and usage

  • Even number after K: Full-wave rectifier
  • Odd number after K: Half-wave rectifier

Then a sequentially assigned number

Then an optional letter: Version

Examples:[31]

Military naming systems

British CV and M8000s naming systems

This system prefixes a three- or four-digit number with the letters "CV", meaning "civilian valve" i.e. common to all three armed services. It was introduced during the Second World War to rationalise the previous nomenclatures maintained separately by the War Office/Ministry of Supply, Admiralty and Air Ministry/Ministry of Aircraft Production on behalf of the three armed services (e.g. "ACR~", "AR~", "AT~", etc. for CRTs, receiving and transmitting valves used in army equipments, "NC~", "NR~" and "NT~" similarly for navy equipments and "VCR~", "VR~" and "VT~" etc. for air force equipments), in which three separate designations could in principle apply to the same valve (which often had at least one prototype commercial designation as well). These numbers generally have identical equivalents in both the North American, RETMA, and West European, Mullard–Philips, systems but they bear no resemblance to the assigned "CV" number.

Examples:

The "CV4000" numbers identify special-quality valves though SQ valves CV numbered before that rule came in retain their original CV number:

The "M8" in the part number denotes that it was developed by the military:

The principle behind the CV numbering scheme was also adopted by the US Joint Army-Navy JAN numbering scheme which was later considerably expanded into the US Federal and then NATO Stock Number system used by all NATO countries. This part-identification system ensures that every particular spare part (not merely thermionic valves) receives a unique stock number across the whole of NATO irrespective of the source, and hence is not held inefficiently as separate stores. In the case of CV valves, the stock number is always of the format 5960-99-000-XXXX where XXXX is the CV number (with a leading 0 if the CV number only has 3 digits).

U.S. naming systems

One system prefixes a three-digit number with the letters "VT", presumably meaning "Vacuum Tube". Other systems prefix the number with the letters "JHS" or "JAN". The numbers following these prefixes can be "special" four-digit numbers, or domestic two- or three-digit numbers or simply the domestic North American "RETMA" numbering system. Like the British military system, these have many direct equivalents in the civilian types. Confusingly, the British also had two entirely different "VT" nomenclatures, one used by the Royal Air Force (see the preceding section) and the other used by the General Post Office, responsible for post and telecommunications at the time, where it may have stood for "valve, telephone"; none of these schemes corresponded in any way with each other.

Examples:

  • North American VT90 = 6H6
  • British (RAF) VT90 – VHF Transmitting triode
  • British (GPO) VT90 = ML4 = CV1732 – Power triode
  • VT104 – RF pentode
  • VT105 – RF triode

Other numeral-only systems

Various numeral-only systems exist. These tend to be used for devices used in commercial or industrial equipment. The oldest numbering systems date back to the early 1920s, such as a two-digit numbering system, starting with the UV-201A, which was considered as "type 01", and extended almost continuously up into the 1980s. Three- and four-digit numeral-only systems were maintained by R.C.A., but also adopted by many other manufacturers, and typically encompassed rectifiers and radio transmitter output devices. Devices in the low 800s tend to be transmitter output types, those in the higher 800s are not vacuum tubes, but gas-filled rectifiers and thyratrons, and those in the 900s tend to be special-purpose and high-frequency devices. Use was not rigorously systematic: the 807 had variants 1624, 1625, and 807W.

Other letter followed by numerals

There are quite a number of these systems from different geographical realms, such as those used on devices from contemporary Russian and Chinese production. Other compound numbering systems were used to mark higher-reliability types used in industrial or commercial applications. Computers and telecommunication equipment also required tubes of greater quality and reliability than for domestic and consumer equipment.

Some letter prefixes are manufacturer's codes:

For examples, see below

Some designations are derived from the behavior of devices considered to be exceptional.

List of American RETMA tubes

Note: Typecode explained above. See also RETMA tube designation

"0 volt" gas-filled cold cathode tubes

First character is numeric zero, not letter O.

Voltage stabilisers and references

Function in a similar way to a Zener diode, at higher voltages. Letter order (A-B-C) indicates increasing voltage ratings on octal-based regulators and decreasing voltage ratings on miniature-based regulators.

Other cold-cathode tubes

1 volt heater/filament tubes

1.25 volt DC filament subminiature tubes

The following tubes were used in post-World War II walkie-talkies and pocket-sized portable radios. All have 1.25 volt DC filaments and directly heated cathodes. Some specify which end of the filament is to be powered by the positive side of the filament power supply (usually a battery). All have glass bodies that measure from 0.285 to 0.400 inches (7.2 to 10.2 millimetres) wide, and from 1.25 to 2.00 inches (32 to 51 millimetres) in overall length.

1.4 volt DC filament tubes

"1" prefix for home receivers

These tubes were made for home storage battery receivers manufactured during the early to mid-1930s; all have 2.0 volt DC filaments despite the 1-prefix, intended to distinguish them from the 2.5 volt AC heated tubes listed below

CRT anode rectifiers

2 volt heater/filament tubes

2.5 volt AC heater tubes

Tubes used in AC-powered radio receivers of the early 1930s

CRT anode rectifiers

3 volt heater/filament tubes

5 volt heater/filament tubes

6 volt heater tubes

  • 6J5WGT – Premium version of 6J5GT, identical to 12J5WGT except heater characteristics
There are several variations. Except for types 6L6-GC and 6L6-GX, all have the same maximum output ratings:
  • 11.5 watts (single-ended Class-A circuit)
  • 14.5 watts (push-pull Class-A circuit)
  • 34 watts (push-pull Class-AB1 circuit)
  • 60 watts (push-pull Class-AB2 circuit)
6L6 (metal envelope) and 6L6-G (shouldered glass envelope) were used in pre-World War II radios and Public Address amplifiers.
6L6 and 25L6 were introduced in 1935 as the first beam tetrodes. Both types were branded with the L6 ending to signify their (then) uniqueness among audio output tubes. However, this is the only similarity between the two tubes. (Type 6W6-GT is the 6.3 volt heater version of types 25L6-GT and 50L6-GT.)
  • 6L6GA – Post-war version of type 6L6-G, in smaller ST-14 shape with Shouldered Tubular, (ST), shaped bulb, revision A.
  • 6L6GB – Post-war improved version in a cylindrical glass envelope. Similar to type 5881.
  • 6L6GTB – 6L6 with Tubular, (T), shaped bulb, revision B, (higher power rating, as it happens. The 6L6GTB can always replace the 6L6, 6L6G, and 6L6GT, but a 6L6GTB running at maximum rating should not be replaced with another subtype).
  • 6L6-WGB – "Industrial" version of type 6L6GB.
  • 6L6GC – Final and highest-powered audio version of the tube. Max. outputs:
  • 17.5 watts (single-ended Class-A circuit)
  • 32 watts (push-pull Class-A circuit)
  • 55 watts (push-pull Class-AB1 circuit)
  • 60 watts (push-pull Class-AB2 circuit)
  • 6L6-GX – Class-C oscillator/amplifier used in transmitters. Max. output 30 watts. (All versions may be used as a Class-C oscillator/amplifier, but this version is specifically designed for this purpose, has a special ceramic base.)
  • 6V6G – 6V6 with Shouldered Tubular, (ST), shaped bulb.
  • 6V6GT – 6V6 with Tubular, (T), shaped bulb.
  • 6BQ7A – Improved 6BQ7 capable of operation at UHF frequencies

"7" prefix Loctal tubes

These tubes all have 6.3 volt AC/DC heaters.

Note: When substituting a 7V7 for a 7W7 or vice versa, verify connections on socket pins 4 and 7; pin 5 is usually connected to the chassis

12 volt heater tubes

"14" prefix Loctal tubes

These tubes all have 12.6 volt AC/DC heaters

25 volt series heater tubes

35 volt series heater tubes

50 volt series heater tubes

117 volt heater tubes

All of the following tubes are designed to operate with their heaters connected directly to the 117 volt (now 120 volt) electrical mains of North America. All of them use indirectly heated cathodes. All of them incorporate at least one rectifier diode.

  • 117L7GT
  • 117M7GT
  • 117N7GT
  • 117P7GT
  • 117Z3 – Single diode, 7-pin miniature version of 117Z4GT
  • 117Z4GT
  • 117Z6GT – Dual diode, can be used as a voltage doubler

Other tubes with nonstandard heater voltages

The tubes in this list are most commonly used in series-wired circuits.

List of RMA professional tubes

  • 2C39B – 2C39A with ceramic spacers

List of EIA professional tubes

Note: Most of these are special quality versions of the equivalents given. Some manufacturers preceded the EIA number with a manufacturer's code, as explained above.

5000s

5651

6000s

  • 6146B (8298A) – Improved version of 6146, 6146A and 8298.
  • 6550A – 6550 with a 42 watt anode

7000s

  • 7027A – Improved 7027 with a 35 watt anode
  • 7189A – Improved 7189

8000s

List of European Mullard–Philips tubes

List of Pro Electron professional tubes

Note: Typecode explained above.

X - Electro-optical devices

XA

XG

XL

XM

XP

XQ

XR

XX

Y - Vacuum tubes

YA

YD

YG

YH

YJ

YK

YL

Z - Gas-filled tubes

Note: See also standard M-P tubes under Z

ZA

ZC

ZM

Note: More Nixie tubes under standard - ZM and ETL examples

ZP

ZT

ZX

ZY

ZZ

List of European transmitting tubes

Note: Typecode explained above.

B - Backward-wave amplifier

BA

D - Rectifier incl. grid-controlled

DA

DC

DCG

DCX

DE

J - Magnetron

JP

JPT

K - Klystron

KB

KS

L - Traveling-wave tube

LA

M - AF modulator Triode

MA

MB

MY

MZ

P - Pentode

PA

PAL

PAW

PB

PC

PE

Q - Tetrode

QB

QBL

QBW

QC

QE

QEL

QEP

QQC

QQE

QQV

QQZ

QV

QY

QYS

QZ

R - Rectifier incl. grid-controlled

RG

RGQ

T - AF/RF/oscillator Triode

TA

TB

TBL

TBW

TC

TD

  • TD03/10F – TD03/10 with internal feedback for use as an oscillator

TE

TX

TY

TYS

X - Thyratron

XGQ

XR

Compagnie des Lampes (1921, "French Mazda") and Mazda-Belvu

Not to be confused with Compagnie des Lampes (1888, see above) nor with British Mazda (see above).

The 1921 incarnation of La Compagnie des Lampes (since 1953 as Lampe Mazda) made light bulbs and electronic tubes under the French Mazda brand. Many of their tubes were also available from Compagnie Industrielle Française des Tubes Electroniques (CIFTE)[88] under their Mazda-Belvu brand, which otherwise used mostly EIA, RETMA and Mullard–Philips tube designations.

Examples:

Before 1949:[89]

Since 1949 with a fire pot logo:[90]

Since 1953 as LAMPE MAZDA:[91]

Since 1959 with a Faravahar logo related to Ahura Mazda:[92]

List of Russian tubes

Standard tubes

Note: Typecode explained above.

Professional tubes

Note: Typecode explained above.

Indicator tubes

List of other number tubes

1

1600s

2

200s

3

300s

4

400s

4000s

Philips:

RCA:

Standard Telephones and Cables:

The SY4307A is historically notable because a pair of them in parallel Class-C was used as the output stage in a transmitter built in secret by Australian soldiers in Japanese-occupied Portuguese Timor during World War II in 1942. This transmitter, now reconstructed and on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, was called "Winnie the War Winner".[107]

5

500s

6

7

700s

8

800s

  • 833A – Improved 833.
  • 866A – Improved 866 with a peak inverse voltage of 10 kV and a forward drop of 10 volt.
  • 872A – Improved 872 with a peak inverse voltage of 10 kV, a forward drop of 10 volt and a heater current of 6.25 A.

9

900s

  • 958A – 958 with tightened emission specs

9000s

List of other letter tubes

A

Edison and Swan Electric Light Company (British Mazda/EdiSwan):

AC*/

Mazda/EdiSwan 4-volts AC, indirectly heated receiver tubes:

ACT

Marconi-Osram Valve Company

B

BA

Industrial Electronic Engineers:

BG

Burroughs Neon-filled planar glow-transfer plasma bar graph displays:

BT

British Thomson-Houston (General Electric subsidiary):

C

CH

Tung-Sol:

  • CH1027-9 – 10−9 A, 18.75 μCi (694 kBq)
  • CH1027-10 – 10−10 A, 1.875 μCi (69.4 kBq)
  • CH1027-11 – 10−11 A, 187.5 nCi (6.94 kBq)
  • CH1027-12 – 10−12 A, 18.75 nCi (694 Bq)

CK

Raytheon:

CL

Ferranti:

D

Philips:

DDR

Mullard:

DZ

Cerberus:

E

EN

Ferranti:

G

Standard Telephones and Cables/Brimar:

Cerberus:

GE

Ferranti:

GK

Cerberus:

GN

Ferranti:

GR

Cerberus:

GRD

Ferranti:

K

KN

KN2

Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier:

  • KN6B – 8 kV, 3 kAsurge Krytron with a primer electrode, lifespan 35000 shots, 4-pin all-glass wire-ended

KT

"Tung-Sol":

M

MC

Philips:

ME

Edison and Swan Electric Light Company (British Mazda/EdiSwan):

P

PD

Edison and Swan Electric Light Company (British Mazda/EdiSwan):

PL

Philips:

Q

Philips:

QK

Raytheon:

R

Marconi-Osram Valve Company:

RK

Raytheon:

S

SB

Radio Corporation of America:

SU

Cossor:

T

British General Electric Company:

Standard Telephones and Cables/Brimar:

TH

Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston:

TM

"Loupiote" – a TM tube

E.C.&A. Grammont and Compagnie des Lampes (1888):

The TM was developed in 1914–15 by the French military telecommunications service Télégraphie Militaire on the initiative of their technical director Gustave-Auguste Ferrié. He and his assistant, physicist Henri Abraham, visited the American laboratories on a number of occasions and were aware of the works of Lee de Forest, Reginald A. Fessenden and Irving Langmuir. They knew that de Forest's Audion and Henry Round's British tube were unreliable and imperfect, and Langmuir's Pliotron was too complex for mass production. They also knew about the latest German developments: Soon after the outbreak of the war, Ferrié received extensive information from a former Telefunken employee, the Frenchman Paul Pichon, who, upon return from a mission from his German employer to gather samples of the latest triodes from the USA, had to surrender himself and the samples to the French. The samples Pichon brought performed poorly due to insufficient vacuum. Following the ideas of Langmuir, Ferrié required the industry to guarantee a high vacuum in series production.
In October 1914, Ferrié, Abraham and François Péri from the radiotelegraph centre in Lyon/La-Doua(fr) went to the light bulb department of Société des Téléphones E.C.&Alexandre Grammont in Lyon to develop with them a triode suitable for mass production. The first prototypes, mere copies of de Forest's Audion, proved to be unreliable and unstable; the next ones were rejected for being too complex. Only the fourth prototype developed in December 1914, with a vertical coaxial system, an Edison screw lamp base for the filament and additional side terminals for anode and grid, was deemed suitable for series production, which started in February 1915 and stopped in October 1915 when it became clear that the vertical structure of "Abraham's Lamp" was too fragile and too many tubes were damaged during transport. Ferrié asked Péri to resolve the problem, and two days later Péri and Jacques Biguet came up with a horizontal coaxial system on the latest four-pin type European 4-pin base. The series production of the Péri/Biguet tubes, named TM after Ferrié's service unit, began in November 1915 under Grammont's Radio Fotos brand; this variant became highly successful, and when demand started to exceed Grammont's production capacity, Compagnie des Lampes (1888) in Ivry-sur-Seine also started production under their Métal brand. Ferrié and Abraham were nominated for the 1916 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in the field of radio communications.
The TM is a cylindrical/coaxial triode; the directly-heated cathode is a filament made of pure tungsten with a diameter of 60 μm, the anode is a nickel cylinder with a diameter of 10 mm and a length of 15 mm. The dimensions and material of the grid depend on the place of production – the Grammont plant in Lyon used molybdenum wire, the CdL plant in Ivry-sur-Seine used nickel. The diameter of the grid spiral is 4 resp. 4.5 mm. The filament required 4 V and 700 mA to bring it up to white heat; the bright glow prompted Grammont in 1923 to start producing TM tubes with dark blue glass envelopes to protect the eyes of radio operators from the blinding glare, and hide the harmless, but unsightly plaque of metal particles inevitably deposited on the inner wall of the bulb while evacuating during production – but also prevented the triodes' previous, secondary use as light sources, which had earned them their nickname Loupiote ("little lamp").
The TM could be used for their intended purpose, amplifying and detecting signals in radio receivers, or as power oscillators in low-power radio transmitters, and also, by paralleling of several tubes, as AF power amplifiers. The Soviet analogue of the TM, the triode R-5, could withstand anode voltages of up to 500...800 V, and was able to deliver a power of up to 1 W in Class-C mode, but only 40 mW in Class-A mode. A typical single-TM radio receiver of World War I ran at Ua=40 V, Ug=0 V, Ia≈2 mA, gm=400 μS, Ri=25 kΩ, μ=10. With an anode voltage of 160 V and a grid bias of -2 V, the anode current was 3...6 mA, while the reverse grid current reached 1 μA.[138]
The problem of TM tubes was their short service life of 100 hours maximum – if the tube was manufactured in strict accordance with the specifications. In wartime, this was not always possible; due to raw materials supply problems, plants sometimes had to use substandard materials. Such tubes were marked with a cross; they differed from the standard by a higher noise level and were prone to catastrophic failures due to cracks in the glass envelope.

TT

Bendix:

Marconi-Osram Valve Company:

V

VHT

Ferranti:

Lettered Loctal tubes used in Philco radios

List of tubes used in 1920s and 1930s radio receivers

[139]

Directly heated

Used with AC, DC or home-based storage battery power supplies (1927–31)

1.1 Volt DC filament

Used in 1920s home radios. Filaments powered by 1.5 volt dry cells, anodes powered by storage batteries.

2 Volts DC filament

Used in 1930s home radios powered by storage batteries.

3.3 Volts DC filament

Used in 1920s home radios powered by dry cells (filaments) and storage batteries (B-plus voltage).

4 Volts DC filament

5 Volts DC filament

Used in 1920s home radios powered by storage batteries.

Note: There were four tubes in the "01" series, each with different current ratings for their filaments. Type 01-A was the most commonly used.
Types UV 201 and UX 201 – 1.0 ampere
Type 01-A (UV 201-A, UX 201-A, etc.) – 250 milliampere
Type UX 201-B – 125 milliampere
Type UX 201-C – 60 milliampere

Directly AC-heated power tubes

Directly AC-heated rectifier tubes

Indirectly heated

DC heater

2.5 Volts heater

Powered by an AC transformer

4 Volts heater

6.3 Volts heater

Powered by an AC transformer or a vehicle crank battery

AC/DC series heater

Shielded tubes for Majestic radios

In the early 1930s, the Grigsby-Grunow Company – makers of Majestic brand radios – introduced the first American-made tubes to incorporate metal shields. These tubes had metal particles sprayed onto the glass envelope, copying a design common to European tubes of the time. Early types were shielded versions of tube types already in use. (The shield was connected to the cathode.) The Majestic numbers of these tube types, which are usually etched on the tube's base, have a "G" prefix (for Grigsby-Grunow) and an "S" suffix (for shielded). Later types incorporated an extra pin in the base so that the shield could be connected directly to the chassis.

Replacement versions from other manufacturers, such as Sylvania or General Electric, tend to incorporate the less expensive, form-fitting Goat brand shields that are cemented to the glass envelope.

Grigsby-Grunow did not shield rectifier tubes (except for type 6Y5 listed below) or power output tubes.

  • G-2A7-S – Pentagrid converter
  • G-2B7-S – Semiremote-cutoff pentode, dual detector diode
  • G-6A7-S – Pentagrid converter
  • G-6B7-S – Semiremote-cutoff pentode, dual detector diode
  • G-6F7-S – Remote-cutoff pentode, medium-mu triode
  • G-25-S – Medium-mu triode, dual detector diode for 2.0 volt storage battery radios. Glass type 1B5/25S used for replacement.
  • G-51-S – Remote-cutoff tetrode
  • G-55-S – Medium-mu triode, dual detector diode
  • G-56-S – Medium-mu triode
  • G-56A-S – Medium-mu triode, original version of type 76, but with 400 milliampere heater. (Not to be confused with types 56 or G-56-S, which has a 2.5 volt, 1.0 ampere heater.)
  • G-57-S – Sharp-cutoff pentode
  • G-57A-S – Sharp-cutoff pentode, original version of type 6C6, but with 400 milliampere heater. (Not to be confused with types 57 or G-57-S, which has a 2.5 volt, 1.0 ampere heater.)
  • G-58-S – Remote-cutoff pentode
  • G-58A-S – Remote-cutoff pentode, original version of type 6D6, but with 400 milliampere heater. (Not to be confused with types 58 or G-58-S, which has a 2.5 volt, 1.0 ampere heater.)
  • G-85-S – Similar to G-55-S, but with 6.3 volt heater.
  • 6C7 – Medium-mu triode, dual detector diode, similar to later octal types 6R7 and 6SR7. Seven pin base. (Shield to pin 3.)
  • 6D7 – Sharp-cutoff pentode, identical to type 6C6, but with 7-pin base. (Shield to pin 5.)
  • 6E7 – Remote-cutoff pentode, identical to type 6D6, but with 7-pin base. (Shield to pin 5.)
  • 6Y5 – Dual rectifier diode, similar to type 84/6Z4, but with 6-pin base. (Shield to pin 2.)
  • G-2-S and G-4-S – Dual detector diodes with common cathodes. The first detector diodes packaged in a separate tube. Forerunners of octal type 6H6. Spray-shielded. Both tubes have 2.5 volt heaters. G-2-S is larger and has a 1.75 ampere heater. Type G-4-S has a 1.0 ampere heater. Later Sylvania replacement type 2S/4S has a 1.35 ampere heater.
  • 2Z2/G-84 – Half-wave rectifier diode with 2.5 volt indirectly heated cathode. A lower-voltage version of type 81. Not interchangeable with type 6Z4/84.
  • 6Z5 – Full-wave rectifier, similar to types 6Z4/84 and 6X5, but with 12.6 volt center-tapped heater.

Rarely used tubes

References and footnotes

Specific items

  1. ^ "Eimac power grid tubes - Quick Reference Catalog 175" (PDF). Eitel McCullough. 1975. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Preferred Types of Electron Tubes 1967" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b "European Type Designation Code System for Electronic Components" (PDF) (15 ed.). Pro-Electron, Brussels, Belgium. June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Akumed Berlin" hearing-aid eyeglasses schematic
  5. ^ "Philips Miniwatt 1938" (PDF). Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  6. ^ Roschy, Jacob (7 October 2007). "Mysterious P-, O- and U- tube-series". Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Tabelle der Heeres-Batterie-Spezialröhren" (PDF) (in German). Lorenz. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  8. ^ Miniwatt Technical Data, 6th Edition; 1958; Published by the "Miniwatt" Electronics Division of Philips Electrical Industries Pty. Limited, 20 Herbert Street, Artarmon, N,S,W., Australia
  9. ^ "Miniwatt" Premium Quality and Special Purpose Tubes, Philips Electrical Industries Pty. Ltd., Australia, November 1957.
  10. ^ "Cold cathode tubes ZnnnA". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Sende-, Verstärker-, Gleichrichter-Röhren und Spezialfassungen (Transmitting, Amplifier, Rectifier Tubes and Special Sockets, 38MB)" (PDF) (in German). Telefunken. 1944. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Mullard Gas-filled Rectifiers" (PDF). Mullard. 1962. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Les lampes" (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  14. ^ BW604 data sheet
  15. ^ BW1010 data sheet
  16. ^ "Belvu tubes electroniques, Licence R.C.A" (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  17. ^ "Vade-mecum ADZAM" (PDF) (in French). 1957. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  18. ^ "EEV Valve data book" (PDF). March 1966. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  19. ^ "Master Valve Guide" (PDF). Mullard. 1935. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  20. ^ FC4 on r-type.org
  21. ^ "Philips radio-artikelen 1927" (PDF) (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 May 2017.p. 15
  22. ^ a b c Дроздов, К. И. (1948). "Справочник по западно-европейским приёмным лампам (West-European receiving tubes)" (PDF) (in Russian). Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  23. ^ a b c d Georgescu, Aurel; Golea, Ion (1956). "Catalog De Tuburi Electronice" (PDF) (in Romanian). Editura Tehnikă Bukurești. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  24. ^ "TUNGSRAM ELECTRON TUBE NUMBERING SYSTEM" (PDF). 2004. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  25. ^ МЕТАЛЛИЧЕСКИЕ ЛАМПЫ (METAL TUBES)
  26. ^ ЭНЦИКЛОПЕДИЯ ЛАМПОВОЙ РАДИОАППАРАТУРЫ[permanent dead link] (Encyclopedia of tubes for radio equipment)
  27. ^ А.Л. Булыев; В.И. Галкин; В.А. Прохоренко (1982). "СПРАВОЧНИК ПО ЗЛЕКТРОВАКЧЧМНЫМ ПРИБОРАМ (HANDBOOK ON ELECTRONIC DEVICES)" (PDF) (in Russian). БЕЛАРУСЬ. pp. 10ff. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  28. ^ Ewert, Jürgen. "Vacuum Tube Numbering Schemes, Bases & Bulbs".
  29. ^ a b HAYASHI, Koji; JAPAN, Ibaraki. "日本の真空管名称制度 (Tube Naming System Japan)" (in Japanese).
  30. ^ a b HAYASHI, Koji; JAPAN, Ibaraki. "Gallery on Tubes/真空管展示室" (in Japanese).
  31. ^ Schematic for General Electric model F-40, a 1938 reflex radio using a 6B7.
  32. ^ Beam Power Tube 12AB5
  33. ^ "12AU7 data sheet" (PDF). STC. August 1950. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  34. ^ Double Triode, Miniature Type, Coated Unipotential Cathode - Heater
  35. ^ Double Triode, Miniature Type, Coated Unipotential Cathode - Heater
  36. ^ Medium Twin Triode 12BH7-A
  37. ^ RCA: Receiving Tube Manual RC21, p.360
  38. ^ 5J6 data sheet - this particular Tung-Sol datasheet contains a copy/paste error in the description where it cites 6J6's 450 mA heater current when it should read 5J6's 600 mA.
  39. ^ RCA: Receiving Tube Manual RC30, p.397
  40. ^ "GL-2H21 Phasitron data sheet" (PDF). General Electric. September 1945. Retrieved 25 December 2016. (as JPGs) • RMA Release #486, 25 April 1946
  41. ^ a b Adler, Robert (January 1947). "A New System of Frequency Modulation" (PDF). Institute of Radio Engineers. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  42. ^ a b Rider, John. F.; Seymour D. Uslan (1948). "FM Transmission and Reception" (PDF). John F. Rider Publisher, Inc. pp. 130–135. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  43. ^ a b Dave Hershberger (W9GR): PHASITRON vacuum tube web page
  44. ^ "Tungar bulb data manual" (PDF). General Electric. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  45. ^ RMA Release #600, 2 September 1947
  46. ^ "5729 30 channel radial beam tube - collector type data sheet" (PDF). National Union Electric Corporation. 9 April 1951. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  47. ^ "5734 Mechano-electronic transducer, triode type data sheet" (PDF). R.C.A. Manufacturing Company. November 15, 1948. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  48. ^ "5734A Mechano-electronic transducer data sheet" (PDF). Toshiba Corp. March 14, 1964. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  49. ^ "5738 Commutator tube data sheet" (PDF). Federal communication laboratories, Inc., Nutley, New Jersey, USA. 6 October 1948. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  50. ^ "6047 Additron data sheet, RTMA Engineering Dept. Release #954" (PDF). Rogers Majestic Corp. March 20, 1951. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  51. ^ "6090 18 channel radial beam tube - multiple anode type data sheet" (PDF). National Union Electric Corporation. January 1956. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  52. ^ "6091 25 channel radial beam tube - multiple grid type data sheet" (PDF). National Union Electric Corporation. January 1956. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  53. ^ "6170 & 6324 25 channel radial beam tube - multiple grid type data sheet" (PDF). National Union Electric Corporation. December 1955. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  54. ^ "Tube Electrometre Double Tétrode à 2 Grilles de Charge d'Espace data sheet" (PDF) (in French). Compagnie Industrielle Française des Tubes Electroniques (CIFTE). January 1968. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  55. ^ "6218 data sheet, RTMA Engineering Dept. Release #1115" (PDF). Rogers Majestic Corp. 25 August 1952. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  56. ^ "E80T data sheet" (PDF). Philips. 4 April 1956. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  57. ^ Richard G. Cumings (8 June 1956). "NRL Memorandum Report 606: Application of Tacitron Type RCA 6441 to Pulse Circuitry" (PDF). United States Naval Research Laboratory. Retrieved 19 November 2017.[dead link]
  58. ^ "6462 Magnetic pick-up tube data sheet" (PDF). National Union Electric Corporation. 9 May 1956. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  59. ^ "6571 Computer storage tube data sheet" (PDF). RCA Electron Tube Division. 21 March 1955. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  60. ^ "6577 Typotron, 5" character-writing CRT-type storage tube data sheet" (PDF). Hughes Aircraft Corporation. 24 November 1954. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  61. ^ "6700 Magnetron Beam Switching Tube data sheet" (PDF). Burroughs Corporation. August 1956. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  62. ^ "6701 Magnetron Beam Switching Tube data sheet" (PDF). Burroughs Corporation. August 1956. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  63. ^ "6762 Wamoscope data sheet" (PDF). Sylvania Electric Products. 17 January 1957. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  64. ^ "CK6835 Recording storage tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 1 November 1959. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  65. ^ "CK7570 Recording storage tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 1 November 1959. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  66. ^ "CK7571 Recording storage tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 1 November 1959. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  67. ^ "6846 Binary tube data sheet" (PDF). Sylvania Electric Products. July 1956. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  68. ^ "7229 Cold-Cathode Trigger Tube data sheet E287B" (PDF). CBS/Hytron. 22 June 1958. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  69. ^ "7230 Reliable Cold-Cathode Trigger Tube data sheet E287C" (PDF). CBS/Hytron. 25 August 1958. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  70. ^ "7231 Subminiature Cold-Cathode Trigger Tube data sheet E287D" (PDF). CBS/Hytron. 22 June 1958. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  71. ^ "7232 Reliable Subminiature Cold-Cathode Trigger Tube data sheet E287E" (PDF). CBS/Hytron. 22 June 1958. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  72. ^ CBS/Hytron "Krytron Trigger Tubes" spec sheets E-337 (30 March 1959), E-337A-1 (20 June 1960), E-337A-2 (20 June 1960)
  73. ^ "7360 Beam Deflection Tube data sheet" (PDF). R.C.A. Manufacturing Company. March 1961. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  74. ^ M. B. Knight (1960). "A new miniature beam deflection tube" (PDF). RCA Electron Tube Division. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  75. ^ H. C. Vance (1960). "SSB Exciter Circuits Using a New Beam-Deflection Tube" (PDF). QST. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
  76. ^ "7414 Subminiature Time Totalizer data sheet" (PDF). Bendix Corporation. 14 March 1959. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  77. ^ "CK7572 Recording storage tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 15 December 1959. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  78. ^ "CK7575 Recording storage tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 15 December 1959. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  79. ^ "CK7702 Recording storage tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 15 March 1960. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  80. ^ "7763 Sheet Beam Tube data sheet" (PDF). General Electric. 5 March 1962. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  81. ^ This tube's designation is inconsistent with the scheme
  82. ^ Wechselspannungs- und Wechselstrom-Stabilisierungsschaltungen mit der Diode YA1000. Telefunken Laborbuch (in German). Vol. IV. Ulm: AEG-Telefunken. 1967. pp. 189–195.
  83. ^ "The ZA100x series switching tubes from Philips". Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  84. ^ "ZC1050 data sheet" (PDF). Philips. February 1968. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  85. ^ Thaens, J. G. M.; van Vlodrop, P. H. G. "Electronic Applications Vol. 27 No. 3: Running Text Display with Cold-Cathode Trigger Tubes" (PDF). Philips Elcoma Division, Central Application Laboratory, Eindhoven, The Nederlands. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  86. ^ "Disc Seal Triodes" (PDF). Mullard. 1965. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  87. ^ La Compagnie des Lampes on radiomuseum.org
  88. ^ French Mazda datasheets before 1949: 18MA4 by CdL • 1883 (July 1948) by CdL, BELVU • 2XM400 (September 1947) by CdL • 2XM600 (September 1947) by CdL • 4Y25 (February 1949) by CdL, BELVU • 5Y35 (July 1948) by CdL • 6H8G (September 1947) by CdL • 879 (September 1947) by CdL • 884 (January 1949) by CdL • 8SAx by CdL • C75S (June 1947) by CdL • C95S (June 1947) by CdL
  89. ^ French Mazda datasheets 1949–53: 2E30 (November 1949) by CdL • 31MA4 (February 1950) by CdL • 3T20 (July 1949) by CdL • 3T100 (July 1949) by CdL, BELVU • 4Y50 (November 1950) by CdL, BELVU • C30S (January 1950) by CdL • C127S (January 1950) by CdL • C220MW1 (January 1950) by CdL • E1 (April 1950) by CdL • E2 (April 1950) by CdL • ST130 (September 1949) by CdL
  90. ^ French Mazda datasheets 1953–59: 2G21 (October 1953) by CdL, BELVU • 4Y100 (September 1960) by CdL, BELVU • 43MG4 (December 1954) by CdL • 43MH4 (March 1954) by CdL • 43MR4 (December 1954) by CdL • 54MS4 (June 1955) by CdL • 829 (June 1955) by CdL • 832 (June 1955) by CdL • 927 (July 1954) by CdL • 929 (June 1957) by CdL • 6196 (November 1959) by CdL • 6250 (November 1959) by CdL, BELVU • E5 (September 1960) by CdL • JA10 (September 1960) by CdL, BELVU
  91. ^ French Mazda datasheets since 1959: 3T50 (February 1966) by CdL, BELVU • 4Y75 (February 1964) by CdL, BELVU • 6K8 (June 1964) by CdL • 78A (September 1966) by CdL, BELVU • 7233 (April 1962) by CdL • 7242 (April 1965) by CdL • 7377 (April 1962) by CdL • 8418 (February 1963) by CdL, BELVU • E6 (February 1964) by CdL • E7 (June 1965) by CdL • E9 (September 1965) by CdL • ECF202 (April 1967) by CdL, BELVU • ECL802 (December 1966) by CdL, BELVU • ED501 (February 1966) by CdL • EF816 (April 1967) by CdL • EL183 (June 1959) by CdL, BELVU • EL503 (June 1966) by CdL, BELVU • EY81F (April 1967) by CdL, BELVU • EY802 (April 1967) by CdL, BELVU • F7024x (April 1967) by CdL, BELVU • F9102 (April 1965) by CdL, BELVU • F9116 (December 1965) by CdL • GY86 (June 1966) by CdL • GY802 (April 1967) by CdL • K25000A1 (June 1961) by CdL • PY81F (April 1967) by CdL, BELVU
  92. ^ GU-81M datasheet (English translation)
  93. ^ "Линейный Трохотрон Типа ЛП-4 data sheet" (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow Electric Lamp Plant (МЭЛЗ/MELZ). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  94. ^ "ИНДИКАТОР ИТМ2-М data sheet" (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow Electric Lamp Plant (МЭЛЗ/MELZ). 1944. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  95. ^ a b c McNally, J.O.; Metson, G.H.; Veazie, E.A.; Holmes, M.F. (January 1957). "Electron tubes for the transatlantic cable system" (PDF). The Bell system technical journal. pp. 163ff. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  96. ^ "1636 U-H-F Beam deflection mixer" (PDF). RCA Electron Tube Division. 3 November 1944. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  97. ^ a b "368A, 368AS and 388A data sheet" (PDF). Western Electric. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  98. ^ "450TH data sheet" (PDF). Eitel McCullough. 8 January 1950. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  99. ^ Holdaway, V.L.; Van Haste, W.; Walsh, E.J. (July 1964). "Electron tubes for the SD submarine cable system" (PDF). The Bell system technical journal. pp. 1311ff. Retrieved 9 Feb 2016.
  100. ^ "4560 Custom-built, 2" diameter, Electrostatic-Focus, Electrostatic-Deflection Monoscope Tubes For Use As Alphanumeric Character Generators data sheet" (PDF). RCA Electronic Components. May 1969. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  101. ^ "4598 Graphechon Tube data sheet" (PDF). RCA Electronic Components. February 1971. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  102. ^ "7539 Graphechon Tube data sheet" (PDF). RCA Electronic Components. March 1960. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  103. ^ "GEC 7828 Scan conversion tube data sheet" (PDF). General Electric Corporation. 10 April 1961. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  104. ^ "8087 Scan-Conversion Storage Tube data sheet" (PDF). Machlett Laboratories, Inc. 16 September 1963. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  105. ^ "Rauland 8098 Signal Storage Tube data sheet" (PDF). Rauland Corporation. 8 January 1962. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  106. ^ "Fall of Timor: 'badly need boots, quinine, money and Tommy-gun ammunition'". Archived from the original on 2009-05-16. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  107. ^ "The Cathode ray Tube site. Television CRT's".
  108. ^ "RCA Air-Cooled Transmitting Tube Manual TT3" (PDF). R.C.A. Manufacturing Company, Harrison, New Jersey, USA. 1938. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  109. ^ "Plasma Panel Displays - Dual Linear Bar Graph" (PDF). Vishay Dale, Columbus, Nebraska, USA. November 2000. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  110. ^ 201-element dual linear bar graph display
  111. ^ C. E. Wynn-Williams (2 May 1932). "Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: A Thyratron "Scale of Two" Automatic Counter" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character. A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character. 136 (829). Royal Society: 312–324. doi:10.1098/rspa.1932.0083. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  112. ^ "CK1366 CK1367 Printer-type cathode ray tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 1 November 1960. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  113. ^ "CK1368 CK1369 Printer-type cathode ray tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 1 November 1960. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  114. ^ "CK1383 Recording storage tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. 15 February 1963. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  115. ^ "CK1414 Symbolray character generating cathode ray tube data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company components division, industrial components operation. 15 April 1966. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  116. ^ "Symbolray application note" (PDF). Raytheon Company components division, industrial components operation. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  117. ^ "DDR100 Accelerometer double diode data sheet" (PDF). Mullard. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  118. ^ "Krytrons - Cold Cathode Switch Tubes data sheet K5500B-1" (PDF). EG&G Electro-Optics Division, Salem, Massachusetts, USA. September 1973. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  119. ^ Wahl, Günter. "Hightech-Elektronik-Experimente" (PDF) (in German). Franzis Verlag. Retrieved 26 Dec 2014.
  120. ^ Miller, Joseph A.; Soltes, Aaron S.; Scott, Ronald E. (February 1955). "Wide-band Analog Function Multiplier" (PDF). Electronics. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  121. ^ Wyse, Barry (2000). "Extracts from "The Saga of Marconi Osram Valves", part 1" (PDF). The British Vintage Wireless Society. p. 12ff. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  122. ^ R-type tube on The National Valve Museum
  123. ^ Lankshear, Peter (July 1996). "Valve filament/heater voltages" (PDF). Electronics Australia. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  124. ^ "Subminiature gas triode type RK61 data sheet" (PDF). Raytheon Company. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  125. ^ "Ed Lorenz Mystery Tube". Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  126. ^ George Honnest-Redlich Radio Control for Models (1950) p. 7
  127. ^ "SB256 Selective Electrostatic Storage Tube data sheet" (PDF). RCA Electron Tube Division. November 1951. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  128. ^ Charles S. Osborne Archived 2018-02-28 at the Wayback Machine • lampes-et-tubes.info
  129. ^ TuneOn data sheet
  130. ^ TuneOn Button data sheet
  131. ^ BRIMAR (STC) Tunograph, Visual Tuning Indicator on lampes-et-tubes • Tunograph data sheet
  132. ^ "TH9503 Scripticon character generating cathode ray tube data sheet" (PDF). Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston, division tubes electroniques, Paris (France). January 1968. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  133. ^ Van Bergen, Fons (2000). "About the French TM valve" (PDF). The British Vintage Wireless Society. p. 20ff. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  134. ^ Champeix, Robert. "Grande et Petite Histoire de la Lampe TM" (in French). Les Anciens de la Radio et de l'Électronique. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  135. ^ TM tube; Horned tube on The National Valve Museum
  136. ^ Gerald Garratt G5CS. "Why the French R valve?". Retrieved 1 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  137. ^ Grid-anode curves for the Soviet R-5 triode, a licensed clone of the French TM triode made by La Compagnie des Lampes (1888)
  138. ^ Lankshear, Peter (August 1988). "The Methuselah of valves" (PDF). Electronics Australia. Retrieved 1 May 2017.

General literature and data sheets

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See also

External links

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